Defining Love
by MonkeyPajamas
Summary: Paige tries to convince Walter love is real….


Author's Note: I don't own Scorpion, it's characters, or anything else mentioned here. Please don't sue. You'd be so disappointed.

* * *

Walter was lost, deep in thought, working on his rocket. Only when he heard a loud crash did he realize anyone else was at the garage with him.

"Sorry," Paige said. "I just dropped my mug." She was already on the ground, trying to wipe up the growing puddle of coffee.

"Oh, yeah…" Walter paused, before he realized he should help. He hurried over to her, and grabbed an extra towel that was lying nearby. "Uh, what are you doing here?"

She laughed. "Walter, I've been here for an hour, didn't you notice? I was talking to you…" Her cheeks reddened as she realized that she must have been talking to herself. "I just needed to finish up some paperwork."

"Oh, for the Roberson case?"

"Yeah, crazy to think she did all that for love." Paige sighed. Most people wouldn't smuggle weapon grade plutonium out of the US in an attempt to prove their loyalty to an overseas boyfriend… but then again, that was probably a good thing.

"Love isn't real." Walter stated. "It's simply a release of dopamine and oxytocin that cause a chain reaction of other symptoms such as sweaty palms, nausea, diminished activity in the frontal lobe of the brain, and increased heart rate. Love is a social construct people invented because they did not understand basic science."

"Walter, come on, you can't really believe that, can you?" Paige added, "Yeah, in this case, love wasn't _love_ , but, really?" Paige paused, choosing her next words carefully. "After everything – I mean, think about Megan. You clearly love her."

"Familial love is different. It provides an evolutionary advantage. You love those with whom you share DNA, to best increase the chance that your genes will be passed down to future generations. My love for Megan was simply based on that – although it's true that her genes will never be passed down through offspring, we do share enough similar genetic material that her child would share approximately 25% of the same DNA that I possess. Therefore, it makes sense to love and protect that genetic investment. Same as why you love Ralph."

Paige glared at the genius. "Walter, that's not all love is. I don't just love Ralph because he's my son. It's so much more than that. You love them because they make you happy, you enjoy spending time with them, and the way they make you feel." Paige's words pleaded with Walter to understand the emotional context within them.

"You asked about familial love, which is only described by the evolutionary advantage I already outlined. What you seem to be describing is romantic love – a notion that has only existed since the mid-20th century."

"What? People have fallen in love throughout all of history – Romeo and Juliet, Henry VII and Anne Boleyn, Marie and Pierre Currie, Antony and Cleopatra. Do I need to go on?"

Walter frowned. "First of all, Romeo and Juliet were fictional couple that both killed themselves, which seems to prove that even if love does exist, it does not end well for those involved."

"Walter…"

"Henry VIII was overall considered a harsh king, who murdered two of his wives, including Anne Boleyn."

Paige let out a slow breath. Clearly, she was not going to win the argument this way. "Fine, but why is it so hard for you to believe that love exists? Those may have not been the best examples, but you can't deny its existence outright."

"Paige, I just told you, all love is is a release of chemicals and neurotransmitters that are incorrectly identified as 'love' – just another example of a chemical reaction inappropriately labeled as an emotional reaction. Did you know that the heart shape, while obviously not involved in love or rooted in anatomy, was based off of the shape of a woman's buttocks?"

Paige paused for a moment, trying to figure out her next step. "Walter, what do you call it when you multiply a number by itself repeatedly?"

"You raise the number an exponential amount, but Paige, what does that have to do with emotions and love?"

"Nothing. Just, bear with me here." Paige continued, "And what is it when water goes back up into the atmosphere?"

"Are you talking about evaporation? That's actually just the simple physical transition between a liquid and gaseous state due to a change in temperature or pressure. In this case, I believe you would be talking about a change – "

Paige cuts him off. "And what about when carbon and hydrogen join together?"

"Paige, what is the point of this? You are being illogical." Walter was growing increasingly confused at Paige's random subject changes.

"What's it called Walter? When carbon and hydrogen combine to – to form that ring thing?"

"It's a benzene ring, Paige."

Paige's voice was rising with excitement... "And when you have a glass of water and spin it around, and it doesn't spill – what's that?"

"Centripetal force. And not the more common thought of centrifugal force. Centrifugal force is not an actual force – it's the result of inertia."

"Now what do all of these have in common?"

"Nothing, Paige. You're being very illogical and jumping from one discipline to the next."

"No, Walter. I'm not talking about the actual theories behind those words – but the words themselves. Who was the first person to spin a glass of water around, and when it didn't spill, decided that that particular reaction was called centripetal force?"

"Actually, its name is derived from the Latin words meaning to seek the center, and was first described by Isaac Newton."

Paige was growing frustrated. She clearly wasn't getting through to him. "That's not what I mean, Walter. All of these things happened in nature, before there were humans, before anyone sat down and studied them. Then some genius scientist sat down, and said 'That's evaporation, that's centripetal force, that's a benzene ring.'

"Now who's to say that thousands of years ago, people didn't say 'This specific release of chemicals is called 'love'?'"

Walter paused, Paige's words clearly causing him to think. "No, love is a social construct." He repeated, although there was now some hesitation in his voice.

"Walter!" Paige exclaimed, frustrated. "Don't you understand? Love itself is a social emotion, yes. But that doesn't mean it isn't real!"

"Uh… yes, Paige, I guess I can see your point." Walter cleared his throat. "If you define love as strictly the chemical release of dopamine, oxytocin, cortisol, adrenaline, and the host of other neurotransmitters and chemicals, I guess I can see your point. It's not rational, though. Although I guess I can concede that those chemicals would produce a state in which your mind wouldn't be functioning at its peak performance."

Paige stared at Walter. "Wait, are you agreeing with me, finally, that love exists?"

"I didn't say that. I just said that love is an appropriate name for the release of those chemicals."

"Thank you, Walter." Paige smiled at the genius. It may not be a life changing event – but she'd finally got him to admit that love was possible. A small step to understanding emotions on a more human level. "And with that victory, I guess I should finish up this paperwork so I can get home to Ralph – who I would love even if we didn't share DNA."

And as Walter watched Paige return to his desk, he realized his palms were just a bit sweaty, and his stomach was swirling in the way that it always did when Paige was involved. Maybe there was something to this 'love' thing she was talking about.

* * *

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.

Thoughts? Comments? It's my first Scorpion fic, and man, these characters are hard to write.


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